1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming system including an image forming apparatus such as a Multi-Functional Peripheral (MFP) and a technique related thereto.
2. Background Art
A technique for operating an image forming apparatus using an external terminal is known.
For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-122424 discloses a technique for directly transmitting operation screen data itself (e.g., bitmapped image data) from an image forming apparatus to an external terminal to display an operation screen on a display unit of the external terminal and transmitting and receiving operation position information (e.g., information regarding a depressed position) displayed in the operation screen to receive operation input through the operation screen. This is a so-called remote control technique using remote connection.
Incidentally, in some cases during the remote control of the image forming apparatus through the above-described operation screen, the user may desire to execute a program installed in the external terminal, rather than a program installed in the image forming apparatus. For example, a case is conceivable in which a program that enables execution of processing on a specific data file stored in the image forming apparatus is not installed in the image forming apparatus but installed in the external terminal. In such a case, it is difficult to execute processing on the specific data file without using the program installed in the external terminal. It is thus preferable that a program installed in the external terminal can also be executed through the above-described operation screen.
The above-described operation screen is, however, merely a remote control screen for using the functions of the image forming apparatus and is not a screen intended for using the functions of the external terminal. For this reason, it was difficult to receive an instruction to execute a program installed in the external terminal through the above-described operation screen.